Chapter 23 - Secret Alley

'Madam Liu would kill me if she knew I allowed Lee Tao to venture into an ancient ruin alone.' Tang Lingling sweated profusely as she could imagine her punishment.

"Young Master, please reconsider your decision to allow me to accompany you." Tang Lingling begged.

Lee Tao halted his movement and turned around to look at Tang Lingling. His eyes narrowed as he became suspicious of Tang Lingling.

"Tang Lingling." Lee Tao said as his face turned solemn.

"Yes?"

"Did you fall in love with me?" Lee Tao asked as he rubbed his chin slightly.

Tang Lingling twitched her mouth.

"T-T-That is not true, Young Master." She replied with a calm expression.

However, her tone was a bit awkward as she was nearly on the verge of hitting Lee Tao.

'If you weren't the son of Madam Liu then I wouldn't even be standing here.' Tang Lingling cursed inwardly.

Although she had been respectful and polite toward Lee Tao, it was never genuine. She was merely doing her duty as a servant and obeying the order from Madam Liu to assist Lee Tao in every way possible, even if the assignment meant offering her body to Lee Tao.

Meanwhile, Lee Tao could feel Tang Lingling was disgusted by his words.

"Tch, I really thought you had fallen for my charm." Lee Tao smirked as he touched his face. "How is it possible that you didn't fall for this handsome face of mine?"

Tang Lingling remained silent as she clenched her fist secretly.

"Well, if you didn't fall for me then there's only one reason why you wanted to follow me." Lee Tao suddenly said as he walked closer to Tang Lingling.

He then whispered softly, "What did my mother order you to do this time?"

His voice may seem to be calm but hidden inside it was a deep killing intent.

Tang Lingling was shocked by the killing intent emitted from Lee Tao.

'H-How could Lee Tao have such a strong killing intent?' Tang Lingling was petrified as such strong killing intent could only be emitted naturally by people who have killed a ton.

However, Lee Tao has always been homeschooled and never had a high cultivation base so the chance of him massacring a ton of people was impossible.

Tang Lingling shuddered momentarily as she gasped for air when Lee Tao returned to his normal and aloof personality.

"Whatever, since you want to join then who am I to restrict you?" Lee Tao shrugged as he turned around to catch up to Yao Meixiang.

Tang Lingling was dumbfounded by Lee Tao's sudden change and wondered silently. 'Is that why Madam Liu said Lee Tao is a dragon amongst men? If that's the case then Lee Tao is a dangerous person.'

Tang Lingling glanced at Lee Tao in a solemn gaze. She then sped up her pace.

Sometime later, Yao Meixiang brought Lee Tao and Tang Lingling in a pretty secretive alley.

"We're here." Yao Meixiang said as she stopped her movement.

"Where's the rest of them?" Lee Tao asked. The alley had no one except for them.

Yao Meixiang laughed awkwardly as she explained. "Ahh, they might have gone to pick up others so they could be running a little late."

Lee Tao narrowed his eyes at Yao Meixiang. She was acting overly suspicious for someone who was always haughty and angry.

"Are you hiding something from me?" Lee Tao asked as he stepped closer to Yao Meixiang.

Yao Meixiang swallowed some of her saliva nervously as she shook her head.

'Like hell I'm going to say that I barely slept because I was busy deciding what to wear today. And the fact that we're extremely early because I thought we could chat for a bit longer.'

Yao Meixiang tried to avert her gaze from Lee Tao's eyesight as she prayed her companion would arrive soon.

"Why are all women always hiding something?" Lee Tao placed his hand behind his head as he leaned on the wall and complained.

Yao Meixiang breathed a sigh of relief when Lee Tao stopped pressuring her to answer his question.

Her gaze involuntarily met with Tang Lingling and both seemed to have understood each other's predicament as they gave a slight nod.

Sometime later, Jia Qiu and Meng Xue arrived at the secret alley as they waved toward Yao Meixiang.

"Yao Meixiang, why are you so early?" Jia Qiu asked.

"Yeah, we decided on the time to be-" Right when Meng Xue tried to speak about the timeframe, her mouth was suddenly covered by Yao Meixiang.

Meng Xue made a weird sound as she struggled to free herself from Yao Meixiang's gasp.

"What's wrong with you?" Meng Xue pouted as she stared at Yao Meixiang.

Yao Meixiang placed a finger in her mouth, indicating her to be quiet as she sent a mental transmission to Meng Xue. "I'll explain the situation later so don't speak about the gathering timeframe."

Meng Xue gave an amusing look to Yao Meixiang and realized Lee Tao was standing nearby. She gave a smirk look as she nodded her head.

Yao Meixiang's face turned slightly red when she saw Meng Xue's expression that seemed to understand what just happened prior to her arrival with Jia Qiu.

Jia Qiu was also giggling from the side. "Junior Sister is indeed a lovebird." Jia Qiu then whispered softly to Yao Meixiang.

"I-It's not like that…" Yao Meixiang mumbled.

"Sure sure, we understand." Meng Xue shrugged her shoulders as she grinned wickedly.

Jia Qiu patted Yao Meixaing's shoulder as she smiled. "You can rest assured that we won't expose you."

Yao Meixiang had her head lowered the entire time when she was being teased constantly by Jia Qiu and Meng Xue.

Meanwhile, the secret alley that was originally empty began to fill up with multiple students coming in.

"Over here, Lin Cheng." Meng Xue waved her hand as she shouted toward a man who seemed to be lost.

Lin Cheng noticed her as he walked toward Meng Xue. He smiled awkwardly and scratched his head slightly.

"Haha, I got lost briefly and caused trouble to everyone.." Lin Cheng cupped his fist as he apologized for being late.